Crescent Venus

Friday morning I was arrested in my “morning walk” by a bright object in the sky, low above the Coast Range across the fjord, and slightly to the south. I assumed it was the morning star, the planet Venus, but I saw something strange about its shape. It appeared to be crescent, as if the moon had receded incredibly. I stepped back inside for a pair of binoculars and looked again. Sure enough, a small, bright, perfect crescent hung in the morning sky.

crescent venus above Alaska's Cascade Range

Crescent Venus. No astral photographer, me . . . (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

I had to hurry on to my morning errand, but I hoped to take a photo when I’d finished. Unfortunately, the planet had disappeared behind clouds, so I went inside to research whether or not this could be Venus, and confirm that I could really see it as a crescent. Continue reading →

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Homestead on Ice

We’re into our first cold snap of the winter, and suddenly, ice is everywhere. Aly went out yesterday morning armed with an ice ax, eyes protected by goggles, to break the ice in the rain barrels. She was concerned about the buckets bursting, but mainly, she loves breaking ice. She hacked holes in the covering sheet of ice in each barrel to make sure the freezing didn’t rupture the buckets.

Aly geared up for breaking ice

Aly the ice breaker. Sorry it's fuzzy. She doesn't like having her picture taken, so I had to snap it quick (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

When we hiked out, we decided to go early, forgetting that we needed to wait for the tide to fall. When we arrived at the bay, the water was too high to cross, so we canoed. On the way across, we encountered ice floes, some of them several inches thick already! On the trail, many of the seeps on the trail had turned to ice. Coming home on a lower tide, the upper beach was well coated with ice, treacherously slick. If this keeps up, we’ll be wearing ice grippers on the hike before long.

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